1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for identifying authentic goods. More specifically, the present invention relates to laser marking retro-reflective material.
2. Description of related art
Each year, counterfeiting of authentic goods costs consumers and companies millions of dollars. Such counterfeiting may take many different forms. In one form of counterfeiting, the counterfeiters completely replicate the product, including identification labels on the product. In the electronics industry, identification labels convey significant information about a product. Visually determining the performance characteristics of an electronic product may be difficult. For example, the labels may convey significant information such as adherence to military specifications or other stringent criteria which materially affects the price of the electronics. In order to obtain a favorable price, counterfeiters may grind off the authentic marks or labels and re-etch counterfeit marks in place of the authentic marks to indicate that the product meets more stringent specifications. When a counterfeit mark cannot be etched, counterfeiters may completely remove the authentic label and substitute a blank clone surface which has been marked with a laser to generate a counterfeit label mark.
To prevent duplication of labeled surfaces, proprietary materials and techniques have been used to mark labeled surfaces with a proprietary "tag." The tag is typically difficult to duplicate by standard counterfeiting mechanisms. However, detecting the tag is often difficult and requires the use of proprietary equipment that is often not easily available to legitimate customers of the product.
Thus, a label is needed which is difficult for counterfeiters to duplicate, but easy for a legitimate customer to detect using commonly available detecting equipment.